AFFECTED members of Angkatan Koperasi Kebangsaan Malaysia Berhad (Angkasa) should take appropriate steps to re-strategise their business plan in a bid to minimise impacts arising from the Covid-19 outbreak.
Its president Datuk Abdul Fattah Abdullah said the affected cooperatives, especially those operating in the homestay, tourism, haj and umrah businesses need to consider alternative strategies.
Due to the Covid-19, the cooperative sector’s initial target of achieving RM50 bil revenue as set out in the National Cooperative Policy 2020 probably could not be achieved, he said.
“We have achieved RM40.3 bil in 2018 and the estimate for last year was around RM43 bil. This year our target is RM50 bil, but if this (Covid-19) is not resolved, the target will not be achieved.
“The target can only be achieved if the cooperatives review their business plan, for example, if their businesses are too export-dependent, they need to find business activities that are not too affected with the Covid-19,” he said.
Abdul Fattah who was met by reporters after officiating Negeri Sembilan’s Angkasa conference yesterday also announced the postponement of overseas promotion for cooperative products due to the virus outbreak.
Angkasa he said, stands ready to guide the affected cooperatives based on eight leading sectors of the cooperative business including wholesale and retail, finance, innovation and technology.
“We recommend them to focus on wholesale and retail activities as it involved services to members in addition to its huge potential,” he said, adding that about 14,417 cooperatives with 6.05 million members under the patronage of Angkasa as at June 30 last year.
The cooperative sector according to him, contributed three per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Asked on the Covid-19 stimulus package announced by the government last week, Abdul Fattah described the economic aid as good but could be better if it takes into account the role of cooperatives. – March 5, 2020, Bernama
